Thursday, October 29, 2009

I cut a piece of thin craft foam into a 'U' shape and covered it with wool roving on both sides, then again on each side with the fiber running in a perpendicular direction to my first application.

I must have gotten it too thick at the bowl bottom, though, since no amount of vigorous rubbing could even out the bowl walls.

I also tried to include cut-work leaves for decoration, but I covered them with too much fiber (to hold them in place) and the end result was merely leaf-shaped 'bumps'.

...and what is that orange thing in the bottom of the bowl? No, not a goldfish, but a dyed curly lock. Ummmmm....better in theory than in practice!

My 'fixes' for this project were to needle-felt leaf designs onto the finished and dried bowl...very so-so.

What did I learn? Well...I need a lot more practice using a resist, and next time, I need to be a little more careful with the amount of fiber I use when going around the edges (esp. bottom!) of my resist.

I don't want to neglect the animals who make all of this fun crafting possible.

There were loads of bunnies at this festival, and I have never in my life seen such mellow rabbits!

These are clearly bunnies who are loved and handled a lot from birth, because some of them were just chillin' in baskets or on little carts, completely unfettered... enjoying being petted by strangers.

One of the most charming and unusual sights of the festival was a woman spinner who held her rabbit on her lap as she pulled off its angora wool for spinning.

I also really love the angora goats with the long locks of mohair! My girls said that their expressions were so 'chill', like, "Yeah? So what?"

I did buy some wonderful acid green mohair, and I'm hoping to channel some of that 'cool' attitude into my finished felt piece!! :)

Sunday, October 25, 2009

We spent a wonderful Saturday at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville, VA.

It was a funny day weather-wise, but that didn't stop us from eating an entire bagfull of kettle corn popcorn, noshing on fresh apples and apple cider, and buying bags and bags of heavenly fiber.

I met some lovely vendors, several of whom were kind enough to allow me to photograph them with their wares.

I just love the colors and textures at these events!! It could be billed as an Extreme sensory experience!! :)

I bought some fun colors of Angelina for adding a little bling to my batts, some neon-dyed curly locks, bagsfull of multi-colored roving and 'coveted' much, much more.

The braided rug class that they offered looked really interesting, as well. The quick how-to: you braid roving and then 'full' the long braid in the washing machine and dryer...then sew it into a traditional rug shape. Very cool!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

There is something so satisfying about being around wool...the colors, the texture, the curly locks and variegated blends, the smell; then there's bamboo and silk and the other crazy fibers...sighhhh...

It makes it impossible for me to leave a sheep and wool festival without bags and bags of new 'stash'.

I've never understood women who believe that "she who dies with the most fabric, wins". I don't want to amass wool and other fibers, I want to make things out of every scrap of fiber that I own.

...and then I want to buy some more!!

This is my first nuno (laminated felt) scarf. I used green silk and covered it with yellow and orange wool roving. Because it was not hemmed, and because I am not about to do a rolled hem on silk for love or money, I made sure to put lots of wool on the raw edges.

I just love how the silk 'pooches out' between the fiber-covered areas!

The room? It's chaos. I know.

...and actually, I've since moved most of it to my sewing/craft room. Of course, in the meantime, I've also had to buy 3 more large plastic containers to hold my newest acquisitions!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

My friend D and I spent a glorious Fall day in Philadelphia today at the Design Center at Philadelphia University.

It's a small, but lovely collection of lace-inspired work by two Dutch designers (Tord Boontje of 'Target' fame being the most well-known), and a female Canadian artist who was an industrial welder prior to going to art school.

We had perfect weather and the trees really cooperated in showing off their stunning Fall colors.

A 'two glasses of wine' lunch at Le Bus topped off the perfect day! :)